A comparison of the Ranging behaviour and habitat use of the Ethiopian hedgehog (Paraechinus aethiopicus) in Qatar with hedgehog taxa from temperate environments

Abstract

We investigated seasonal changes in the ecology and behaviour of the Ethiopian hedgehog (Paraechinus aethiopicus) in Qatar, particularly in respect to differences in behaviour between hedgehogs living in arid environments and hedgehogs in temperate mesic environments. These comparisons will allow us to explore behavioural adaptations to different environments across hedgehog taxa. We radio-tracked 30 hedgehogs in Qatar over two years, and measured home range size, habitat preference, travel speed, activity and body mass. Whilst we found no difference in body mass between males and females, male home range size was over twice as large as that for females. Unlike hedgehogs in Europe, males maintained large home ranges during the non-breeding season. This behaviour may be sustained by the low cost of maintaining a large home range; males travelled less far per hour during the non-breeding season. Habitat use was non-random; arid areas with human influence, including rubbish dumping sites, was the most selected habitat type compared with its availability. Dense scrub and/or trees was the most selected habitat for nesting. This study gives us greater understanding as to how hedgehog taxa are adapted to their environment and therefore how they may be conserved, for example, the recent increase of “lower” level human activities, including irrigated farms and food waste, in harsh arid environments may have influenced the space use by Ethiopian hedgehogs.

Distribution, bioclimatic niche and sympatry of two Erinaceidae in Tunisia

“…Thus, P. aethiopicus is related to real desert environments. These remarks are in agreement with the observations of other authors who found the same preferences in this hedgehog in Qatar (Abu‐Baker, Reeve, Conkey, Macdonald, & Yamaguchi, ; Pettett, Al‐Hajri, Al‐Jabiry, Macdonald, & Yamaguchi, ). The Saharo‐Arabian origin of this species can explain its preferences and its local distribution.…”

“…The Saharo‐Arabian origin of this species can explain its preferences and its local distribution. Ethiopian hedgehog can exploit a large home range than other Erinaceidae in case of lack in resource availability (Pettett et al, ).…”

Food Waste in the Countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council: A Systematic Review

“…Process of the search and selection of documents, n = 7[63][64][65][66][67][68][69], n = 18[70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87], n = 10[45,46,61,62,[88][89][90][91][92][93].…”

Characteristics and Demography of a Free-Ranging Ethiopian Hedgehog, Paraechinus aethiopicus, Population in Qatar

“…Extensive research on the European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) has led to the common notion that hedgehogs are characteristic of the moist temperate environments of the world. However, many hedgehog species occur in arid and semi-arid environments, such as the "desert hedgehogs" of the genus Paraechinus, and yet, little is known about their ecology and behavior in these arid environments [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. More than 25 years ago, in his monograph of hedgehogs, Reeve (1994) [1] expressed his frustration by stating "There is a frustrating lack of further studies .…”

“…There is a clear need for much more fundamental work on all these and other, as yet unstudied, hedgehog species". Sadly, although there has been some work on ecology, behavior, and physiology of non-European hedgehog species in the past 25 years [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13], basic information about their population characteristics is still largely lacking.…”